Rusty Spike Feature Article
Volume 25, Number 5 - Winter 1995
Railroads are long and narrow not short and fat so when I laid out my N scale 'Hooville Railroad', I made it 18 feet long by 3 feet wide. The original track plan went from Titusville, to Oil City, PA. and consisted of a loop and a double dog bone with passing sidings on two levels. The road was an Erie Lackawanna subsidiary circa 1970 and had steel, oil and lumber originating on line plus several thru trains a week. With that much space and not a lot of time to invest into railroading, I had enough to keep me busy for several years.
Things went fine until 1988 when one member of an NMRA tour group asked me, "What's next?" The answer was to jump ahead to the late 70's, go to Meadville and Erie and connect with Conrail, P&LE, & N&W. Since all three of my children were in college at the time, negotiations for land rights went rather quickly. Capitol funds for right of way acquisition, rail laying and improvements were another story! Ultimately, the 'Hooville Railroad' went to Meadville, and Erie by the addition of a 12 foot 'L' shaped extension. Erie PA is represented by a 6 foot long yard at the far end of the 'L' section. Since Erie is also a lake port, I had the space and need for a dock facility.
What to put at the dock? What ever it was had to be 1 to 160 scale -- no plastic aircraft carrier here. Besides, I know of no aircraft carrier ever entering the great lakes! Sail boats were available but for what purpose? No, sail boats and carriers wouldn't work. So the dock facility sat empty for over a year while I waited for "my ship to come in."
Having grown up just south of Lackawanna New York on the shores of Lake Erie I spent a significant amount of time watching the lake freighters coming and going at Buffalo harbor and Bethlehem Steel plant. Since they differed from ocean ships, lake freighters were interesting.
An ocean vessel had one large 'island" in the center of the ship with cranes both front and rear for cargo loading. Lake freighters, however, were larger; approximately 600 feet, and featured two "islands." The island at the bow was the pilot house where the wheel man and captain worked and the island at the stern housed the boiler, engine, crew quarters, and galley. In between stretched several hundred feet of nothing but cargo hatches.
Speed was not the forte' of the lake freighter. Most lake freighters had triple expansion steam engines which developed about 2000 horse power. In the mid 1950's most of the newer ships were converted to twin turbine propulsion which boosted horse power to about 5500. By comparison, the super bulk freighters that ply the great lakes today are almost 1100 feet long and boast 10000 horse power. From April thru December these monsters worked the lakes between Superior and the port of Buffalo. Such a ship would have been great but I couldn't find any commercial models.
Now, just by chance, I mentioned my problem to Dave Cook, a friend who builds model airplanes. You know those things -- loud noises, nose dives, crashes, and angry faces. Dave told me that Bowling Green State University in Ohio is the repository for lake freighter plans! For a nominal fee, the Institute for Great Lakes Research sent me some architect's renderings and ship measurements. A quick calculation revealed that the freighter would be 3'9" long, 2" deep, and 3.75" wide. Set that next to a GP9 or Mallett for a size prospective!
While my enthusiasm is great, my modeling skills are, at best, limited. I couldn't see how laying out a keel and build the ship out of balsa, hard wood or any similar method would yield much success. I'm just not that good. However, further conversation with Dave revealed that most of today's model airplanes sport wings wade of styrofoam. "Styrofoam", evidently their skills are limited also! Finally, I had an answer to the problem.
I cut the basic hull shape out of 2 inch thick styrofoam house insulation. A little work with a hand held sander soon gave me the proper shape for bow and stern. By the way, be sure to use one of those paper dust masks since styrofoam insulation becomes permanent when sucked into the lungs. The wheel house and engine house at the stern were cut from 1 inch stock, the whole thing was glued together and a Lake Freighter was born!
Next time, I'll share some of the construction details with you. In the mean time, clear a spot six inches wide by 44 inches long for your dock facilities. Just think, lake freighters, these creatures from the past would have been long forgotten had not my N scale 'Hooville, Meadville and Erie' (the "HOME Road") not gone to Erie!
Norm
Last updated February 11, 1996.
Copyright 1996 by Roger P. Hensley